Scandal snares second general

Obama postpones promotion of Allen as CIA fallout grows

Jill Kelley ignores reporters Tuesday as she leaves her home in Tampa, Fla. She drove off in her Mercedes.
Jill Kelley ignores reporters Tuesday as she leaves her home in Tampa, Fla. She drove off in her Mercedes.

— The sex scandal that felled CIA Director David Petraeus widened Tuesday to ensnare the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, in a suddenly public drama that involves a Tampa socialite, a jealous rival, a twin sister in a messy custody dispute and flirty e-mails.

President Barack Obama put a hold on Allen’s nomination to become the next commander of U.S. European Command as well as the NATO supreme allied commander in Europe after investigators uncovered 20,000-plus pages of documents and e-mails that involved Allen and Tampa socialite Jill Kelley. Some of the material was characterized as “flirtatious.”

Allen, 58, insisted he’d done nothing wrong and worked to save his imperiled career.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has recommended to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that he keep Allen in his post as commander in Afghanistan, Dempsey’s spokesman, Col. David Lapan, said Tuesday.

Dempsey called Allen from Australia, where Dempsey was to attend meetings with Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and their Australian counterparts. Allen told Dempsey that he had not committed any wrongdoing, Lapan said

Kelley, 37, who had worked herself into the center of the military social scene in Florida without having any official role, emerged as a central figure in the still-unfolding story that has embroiled two of the nation’s most influential and respected military leaders.

Known as a close friend of retired Gen. Petraeus, Kelley triggered the FBI investigation that led to his downfall as CIA director when she complained about getting anonymous harassing e-mails. They turned out to have been written by Petraeus’ mistress, Paula Broadwell, who apparently was jealous of the attention the general paid to Kelley. Petraeus acknowledged the affair and resigned Friday.

In the course of looking into that situation, federal investigators came across what a Pentagon official called “inappropriate communications” between Allen and Kelley, both of them married.

According to one senior U.S. official, the e-mails between Allen and Kelley were not sexually explicit or seductive but included pet names such as “sweetheart” or “dear.” The official said that while much of the communication — including some from Allen to Kelley — is relatively innocuous, some could be construed as unprofessional and would cause a reasonable person to take notice.

That official, as well as others who described the investigation, requested anonymity on grounds that they were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.

The FBI decided to turn over the Allen information to the military once the bureau recognized it contained no evidence of a federal crime, according to a federal law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record and demanded anonymity. Adultery, however, is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Allen was not suspended from his military position, even though his nomination for promotion is on hold. The White House will soon be deciding how many troops will remain in Afghanistan — and for what purposes — after the U.S.-led combat operation ends in 2014. Allen has provided his recommendations to the White House and is key to those discussions.

Allen served as Petraeus’ deputy when both generals led the military’s Tampa-based Central Command from 2008 until 2010.

Still more subplots in the story emerged Tuesday with news that both Allen and Petraeus wrote letters last September on behalf of Jill Kelley’s twin sister, Natalie Khawam, in a custody dispute. In 2011, a judge had denied Khawam custody of her 3-year-old son, saying she “appears to lack any appreciation or respect for the importance of honesty and integrity in her interactions with her family, employers and others with whom she comes in contact.”

Allen, in his letter, wrote of Khawam’s “maturity, integrity and steadfast commitment to raising her child.” Petraeus wrote that he had been host for the Kelley family and Khawam and her son for Christmas dinner, and he described her loving relationship with her son. That also indicated how close the Petraeus and Kelley families had been.

Kelley served as a sort of social ambassador for U.S. Central Command in Tampa, hosting parties for Petraeus when he was commander there from 2008-10.

The friendship with the Petraeus family began when they arrived in Tampa, and the Kelleys threw a welcome party at their home, a short distance from Central Command headquarters, introducing the new chief and his wife, Holly, to Tampa’s elite, according to staff members who served with Petraeus.

Such friendships among senior military commanders and prominent local community leaders are common at any base, a relationship where the officers invite local people to exclusive military events and functions, and the invitees respond by providing private funding to support troops with everything from moraleboosting “Welcome Home” parades to assistance for injured combat veterans.

Petraeus aides say Jill Kelley took it to another level, winning the title of “honorary ambassador” from the countries involved in the Afghanistan war for her extensive entertaining at her home on behalf of the command, throwing parties that raised her social status in Tampa through the reflected glow of the four-star general in attendance.

The social galas seemed to spare no expense, guests said, and often featured copious buffets, valet parking, string quartets, as well as premium cigars and champagne.

While they were throwing glamorous parties, the Kelleys racked up substantial debt, prompting banks to initiate foreclosure proceedings on two properties and other creditors to sue them for tens of thousands in credit card debt, according to court records filed in Hillsborough County District Court. Guy Coburn, a lawyer who represented the Kelleys in the civil suits, said he had not been authorized by his clients to discuss the cases.

Petraeus even honored Kelley and her husband with an award given to them in a special ceremony at the Pentagon just before he left the military for his post at the CIA, an aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the matter publicly.

The FBI agent to whom Kelley first took her complaint was a longtime friend. And he had once sent her shirtless photos of himself, according to a federal law enforcement official.

He passed the information along to others for investigation, and was subsequently told to steer clear of the case because his superiors worried that he had become obsessed with it, the official said.

But the agent passed along a tip about Petraeus’ affair to Republican Rep. Dave Reichert of Washington state, who got word to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Oct. 27, nearly two weeks before the scandal became public.

White House spokesman Jay Carney was asked about the revelations involving Allen and said Obama “wouldn’t call it welcome” news. Carney described Obama as “surprised” by the earlier news about Petraeus.

“The president thinks very highly of Gen. Allen,” Carney said at a news briefing. “He has faith in Gen. Allen,” and believes that he has done “an excellent job” as commander in Afghanistan, Carney added.

As he prepares for a second term, the president has hoped to run a methodical transition process, with the goal of keeping many Cabinet members and other high-ranking officials in their posts until successors are confirmed, or at least nominated. Petraeus’ resignation has disrupted those plans, leaving Obama with an immediate vacancy to fill and raising questions about how much other immediate shakeup the national security team can handle.

National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said Obama put Allen’s nomination on hold at the request of Panetta. Allen succeeded Petraeus as the top American commander in Afghanistan in July 2011 and has been working with Panetta on how best to pace the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, called the latest revelations “a Greek tragedy.”

Acting CIA Director Michael Morell met with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia on Tuesday, to explain the CIA’s understanding of events that led Petraeus to resign. That session came ahead of meetings with the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee today, according to congressional aides.

The chairman and top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee said their panel would go ahead with Thursday’s scheduled confirmation hearing on the nomination of Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, who is to replace Allen as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, if Allen is indeed promoted.

Even though Petraeus has stepped down, Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said the retired general should testify about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, “if he has relevant information.” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said it is “absolutely imperative” that Petraeus testify, since he was CIA director during the attack and visited Libya afterward.

Asked by reporters if there was a national security breach with the Petraeus affair, Feinstein said: “We’re going to hold an inquiry. We’re going to look at things. I have no evidence that there was at this time.” She said she expected Petraeus to testify — “if not this week, then another week. That’s for sure.”

Feinstein said she did not believe that either Allen or Petraeus would release classified information.

The FBI looked into whether a separate set of e-mails between Petraeus and Broadwell might involve any security breach and concluded it did not.

The FBI searched Broadwell’s home in Charlotte, N.C., Monday night, with her consent, according to a federal law enforcement official, who said the FBI just wanted to make sure there were no classified documents out of government custody.

Information for this article was contributed by Lolita C. Baldor, Pete Yost, Kimberly Dozier, Adam Goldman, Jack Gillum, Larry Margasak, Julie Pace, Donna Cassata, Connie Cass and Robert Burns of The Associated Press; by Carol D. Leonnig, Ernesto Londono, Julie Tate, Anne Gearan, Craig Whitlock and Rajiv Chandrasekaran of The Washington Post and by Elisabeth Bumiller, Scott Shane and Thom Shanker of The New York Times.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 11/14/2012

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